Shine United

What Shine United does

Shine United is a full-service advertising, design, and digital agency headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 2001 by Curt Hanke, Mike Kriefski, and Chad Bollenbach. The firm provides integrated marketing communications services spanning brand strategy, creative development, media planning and buying, digital and social campaigns, website and e-commerce development, packaging design, and video production. It serves a roster of enterprise and mid-market clients including Harley-Davidson, GORE-TEX (W.L. Gore & Associates), Amazon, Festival Foods, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Moon Cheese (NutraDried), UW Health, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, LaCrosse Footwear, Descente Athletic Americas, Mizuno Running, and Destination Madison. The agency operates a unified "one-roof" model combining strategy, creative, and traditional/digital media under a single engagement structure, and is recognized for category expertise in outdoor/recreation, food and restaurant, healthcare, and active lifestyle brands.

The firm is structured as a closely held partnership. Ownership has expanded from the three founders to six equity partners (the three founders plus John Krull since 2014, with Emily Bohochik and Nick Newlin added in 2019), and additional senior leaders hold non-equity partner titles. Headcount stood at approximately 44-45 full-time employees across 2018-2019, with disclosed revenue of approximately $51 million in 2019-2020, up from $41 million in 2017-2018. The business model is professional services agency fees charged against Agency of Record retainer and project engagements, acquired primarily through direct sales, competitive reviews, and referrals.

Shine United's brand reputation rests on a deep award portfolio (multiple Graphis platinum/gold awards, eight Telly Awards, multiple NAMA and Healthcare Advertising Awards, an 8-page Communication Arts feature, inclusion in Lürzer's Archive) and seven consecutive years on OUTSIDE Magazine's Best Places to Work list. The firm cultivates a talent-centric culture (100% employer-paid health/dental/life premiums, profit sharing, $10,000 10-year anniversary bonus plus an extra vacation week), which supports unusually low turnover for the agency sector and underwrites institutional knowledge across long-tenure client relationships.

Name

Shine United

Legal name

Shine United

Website

https://shineunited.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shine United is a Madison, Wisconsin-based full-service advertising, design, and digital agency serving enterprise and mid-market clients across outdoor recreation, food and restaurant, healthcare, education, and tourism. Founded in 2001, it delivers integrated brand strategy, creative, media, and digital services via Agency of Record engagements, generating roughly $51 million in annual revenue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Naming & Verbal Identity (Taglines, Messaging) (MPAAAEAB)

Keywords

• Advertising agency services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Integrated marketing communications
• Digital marketing services
• Creative design services

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Brand Consulting Services: Shine United generates revenue through agency fees for advertising and brand consulting services, including strategy, creative development, media planning and buying, digital marketing, and brand design services. Revenue is reported at approximately $41-51 million annually based on publicly stated figures.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Shine United is a full-service advertising, design, and digital agency that delivers integrated marketing communications for client brands. Services span brand positioning and identity development, advertising campaign creation, digital and interactive marketing, packaging and graphic design, and traditional media planning and buying, all delivered under one roof.

Product overview

Shine United is a full-service advertising, design, and digital agency headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The company operates as a unified agency model offering integrated services including advertising campaigns, brand strategy and identity, digital/interactive services, and design. Their service portfolio is organized around four core capabilities: Advertising Services (campaign development across media channels), Brand Strategy and Identity (positioning and visual identity systems), Digital and Interactive Services (websites, digital advertising, social media), and Design Services (packaging, print, visual communications). The agency serves a diverse client roster including Harley-Davidson, Wisconsin Cheese, GORE-TEX, Amazon, Festival Foods, LaCrosse Footwear, and UW Health, among others. Founded in 2001, the agency has grown to approximately 45-51 employees and reports annual revenue of approximately $41-51 million.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advertising Services Full-service advertising campaigns including brand positioning, media planning, creative development, and campaign execution across traditional and digital channels for consumer brand clients.
• Brand Strategy and Identity Brand development, repositioning, and identity systems including logo design, visual identity, naming, and brand architecture strategy for multi-brand portfolios.
• Digital and Interactive Services Website design, digital advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, and e-commerce development for brand clients.
• Design Services Graphic design, packaging design, print advertising, poster campaigns, and visual communications across all brand touchpoints.

Quantifiable outcome

• Angelic Bakehouse achieved a 15-fold increase in distribution following brand overhaul, leading to acquisition by a national specialty foods company
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Kingdom FilmworkscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2019Shine United partners with Kingdom Filmworks for video production on healthcare client projects. The partnership has produced multiple award-winning campaigns for UW Health's 'The Ride' and Quartz health plans. The collaboration thrives on pre-production dedication between Shine's Executive Creative Director and Kingdom's Director of Photography, Jack Whaley.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Kilwins (in-house): Kilwins is a specialty confectionery retailer, not a peer — listed by mistake; omit.

Direct peers

• BVK: BVK is a Milwaukee-based independent, full-service advertising and media agency with similar category depth in food, healthcare, and active-lifestyle brands. Midwest independent comparable in scale and integrated offering to Shine United.
• LPK: LPK is a long-standing, privately held Cincinnati-based brand and creative agency offering integrated advertising, packaging, and digital services to consumer brands. Comparable to Shine United in operating model, mid-size scale, private ownership, and category focus on CPG/outdoor.
• Tombras: Tombras is a Knoxville-based, independently held full-service advertising agency of comparable size and model, providing advertising, branding, digital, and media buying under one roof for national and regional consumer brands — a near-direct structural match to Shine United's integrated model.
• BBMG (Brand Building Marketing Group): BBMG is a mid-sized independent brand-and-marketing agency focused on mission-driven and consumer brands, comparable to Shine United on integrated full-service model and private ownership.
• GALE (BusinessOfCreativity): GALE is an independent, full-service creative, media, and data agency with comparable integrated capabilities (creative, media, digital) serving national consumer accounts, and a similar challenger positioning to Shine United's 'challenger thinking for bold brands.'
• OHIO (advertising agency): OHIO is a Columbus, Ohio-based independent creative agency of comparable size offering integrated brand strategy, advertising, and digital work — a Midwest independent comparable to Shine's Madison, Wisconsin footprint and boutique national positioning.
• Fusion92: Fusion92 is a Chicago-based independent marketing and advertising agency of comparable scale, offering integrated advertising, media, and digital services to mid-market and enterprise consumer brands.

Broad incumbents

• MullenLowe U.S. MullenLowe is a mid-tier network agency offering integrated advertising and brand strategy from the U.S. hub of IPG/MullenLowe Global — larger and broader than Shine United, but competes for similar mid-sized consumer brand AOR pitches.
• Periscope (an IQVIA company): Periscope is a long-standing Minneapolis-based integrated advertising agency within a larger parent (IQVIA), operating with a similar full-service creative/media model focused on regional and national consumer brands in the upper Midwest.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shineadco
• YouTubeyoutube.com/shineunited
• Facebookfacebook.com/shine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2529638
• Instagraminstagram.com/shineunited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shine United